Duel of the Hunters
Duel of the Hunters is the eighth episode of season two. As Punisher continues to hunt for the now mutated Spider-Man, Kraven the Hunter attempts to find Spidey so that Mariah Crawford can cure him. In the process Kraven confronts Punisher to stop him from killing Spider-Man. Plot Inside the warehouse Punisher slowly backs away from the now mutated Spider-Man. As Spider-Man spits acid from his mouth Punisher back away before it can hit him. The acid instead hits his jacket and he takes it off and grabs a gun from the holster on his side. However, Spider-Man is able to knock the gun out of Punisher's hand. Punisher attempts to fight Spider-Man. However, the spider creature is far too powerful and he knows Punisher across the room. As Punisher lands on the ground he finds Spider-Man's mask and picks it up. Just then Spider-Man walks over to Punisher and fires more acid at him, but Punisher is able to move out of the way. As the acid hits a container of chemicals they combust and cause the warehouse to catch on fire. As Punisher makes a run for it Spider-Man captures him in his web and begins to drag Punisher closer and closer toward him. However, the Battle Van (which is being remotely controlled by Punisher) drives into the warehouse and Punisher is able to get inside. Spider-Man starts to rip off the side of the van but as the Battle Van drives off Spider-Man is knocked off the side. As Spider-Man crashes through the wall of the warehouse and we swings away and is spotted by a construction worker who is terrified of the giant humanoid spider. As the Battle Van speeds off Punisher cuts himself free from Spider-Man webbing and Microchip contacts him to see if he is alright. Punisher answers that he is fine and drives off in the Battle Van. Moments later back at the warehouse firefighters respond to put out the fire. The police also question the man that saw the creature and one officer draws a sketch as the man describes what the creature looks like. As Terri Lee walks up she takes the drawing from the man and looks at the drawing and sees Spider-Man as a monster. Another officer then hands Terri Lee a torn piece of Spider-Man's costume. Terri Lee then tells the officers to put out an APB for Spider-Man. A short while later at the Hardy Foundation, Mariah Crawford watches a news report on Spider-Man and hears that he has mutated into a monster. Mariah then picks up her phone and calls Sergei Kravinoff and tells him of what has happened to Spider-Man and she begs him to come to New York City. At that very moment gears up to take on Spider-Man. Microchip protests believing that Punisher should not go after Spider-Man because so far he has only gone after normal criminals. However, Punisher says that he became a vigilante to hunt monsters. Microchip asks if anyone will see the creature. However, Punisher answers that it will find someplace to hide during the day time. Punisher is correct because as the sun comes up Spider-Man crawls into the subway to sleep. Minutes later the Parker house, May Parker accidentally wakes up Mary Jane who fell asleep on her couch last night. As Mary Jane asks where so is going May answers that she is going to the police because Peter did not come home last night. May says that she believes it was Spider-Man that did something to him. After hearing this Mary Jane tells May that she is going with her to the police because of how much she cares for Peter. Later that morning Mariah meets Sergei at the airport as his plane lands. She tells him that the she has finished the cure for Spider-Man and that he must administer it to him. As night falls Punisher prepares to fight Spider-Man, or Man-Spider as the media has been calling him. As Punisher gets in his Battle Van, Microchip tells him to be careful. Punisher then drives into the city and follows the signel of the tracer he put on Man-Spider. At that moment Felicia Hardy is in her apartment staring at a photograph of Michael Morbius. Michael Morbius then flies to a nearby biulding and watches Felicia. Morbius begins to feel his hunger for blood but stops himself from harming Felicia. As Morbius flies away he says that he must cure himself but realizes that he might need help to do it. Minutes later Man-Spider arrives at Empire State University and goes into one of the laboratories. As the creature looks around he spots the Neogenic Recombinator and picks it up. Man-Spider then remembers back to when he was a human and helped Dr. Curt Connors with an experiment involving the Neogenic Recombinator. Frustrated with this memories the creature lets out a loud roar. Debra Whitman who is in the building hears this and goes into the hall to see what is making the noise. As Debra looks around she sees Man-Spider's shadow and runs outside the building in fear. Debra then runs up to Flash Thompson and tells him about what she saw and asks for his help. However, Flash tells her that she was just imagining things and that Spider-Man is a hero. As Debra and Flash talk Morbius flies to the rooftop of a nearby building. As Flash walks away Debra realizes that he is the star of the ESU football team. Debra then says that even though he is a big time football star he is affraid to walk her back inside the building. Not wanting to be branded a coward Flash walks her back inside. However, when Flash enters the lab the Man-Spider is gone and thinks that it was just the wind that knocked a few things over. After hearing this Debra gets upset and runs off. As Flash enters the lab he finds webbing by the window and begins to wonder what is going on around ESU. Outside a redhead woman walks through the rain. As Man-Spider comes up behind her it sees her red hair and believes that she is Mary Jane. As Man-Spider jumps in front of her the woman is terrified and runs off. Nearby Punisher is watching from the Battel Van. As Man-Spider crawls up the side of a building Punisher ejects from the van and lands on the roof. As Man-Spider fires acid from his mouth Punisher blocks it with a shield. As Man-Spider web slings away Punisher fires his gun at at him but misses. As Punisher follows the creature onto another roof he uses a gun to fire a adhesive which causes Man-Spider to stick to the ground. As Punisher is about to kill Man-Spider, Kraven, the Hunter arrives and throws bolas at Punisher's gun knocking it out of his hand. As Punisher pulls another weapon out of his jacket Kraven tackles him to the ground. As they fight Man-Spider is able to free himself and spots Morbius flying through the window of a nearby building. As Morbius enters the laboratory he sees Debra looking through a microscope and he asks her to help him. As Debra looks up she sees Morbius and screams at the sight of his vampire appearance. As Morbius is about to feed on her blood Flash runs in and pushes Debra out of the way. Flash attempts to fight Morbius. However, Morbius overpowers him and drains his blood. Before he can drain anymore Man-Spider shows up and webbs Morbius' arm but Morbius (who is shocked at Spider-Man's mutation) snaps the web line and starts to fight Man-Spider. As Morbius throws Man-Spider at the wall he runs toward the window and flies away. Man-Spider then approaches Flash Thompson's unconscious body and recalls memories of Flash from when he was human. Haunted by these memories Man-Spider begins to shriek and yell. As Debra wakes up she pulls the fire alarm which scares Man-Spider away. Meanwhile, on the rooftop Kraven and Punisher continue to fight. Punisher then sees Man-Spider get away and is angered by this. However, Kraven comes up behind Punisher and grabs him. After a brief fight Punisher is able to subdue Kraven by trapping him in a net. Punisher then wars Kraven to stay out of his way. However, Kraven replies that revenge is a foolish reason to hunt. Cast Cameos *Curt Connors Locations *Earth-92131 **New York City ***Warehouse ***Hardy Foundation ***Subway ***Parker house ***Airport ***Daily Bugle ***Punisher's headquarters ***Felicia Hardy's apartment ***Empire State University Items *Battle Van *Bruce the Gargoyle *Neogenic Recombinator *Punisher's arsenal *Bolas Continuity *This episode picks directly where Enter the Punisher left off. Trivia *In the original Six Arm Saga story Peter Parker only grew four extra arms but did not turn into an actual human sized spider. **In later issues of The Amazing Spider-Man, Spider-Man did turn into a human spider. This happened in The Amazing Spider-Man #437 (1998). Peter Parker's transformation also resembles another character from the comics called Spider-X. *When Kraven fights Punisher, Kraven says "It is written that a man may build himself a throne of bayonets, but cannot sit on it." This is an approximation of a famous Boris Yeltzin quote usually translated as "You can build a throne of bayonets, but you can't sit on it for very long." **Boris Yeltzin was the president of Russia at the time this episode aired. He was in office from 1991 to 1999. *Kraven also quotes English philosopher Francis Bacon when he says "A man that studieth revenge keeps his own wounds green." Episode review Quotes "What happeded big guy?" "I looked the devil square in the eyes. . . and I blinked." : '-Microchip & Punisher' "Put out an APB. . . for Spider-Man." : '-Terri Lee' "Sergei, Spider-Man has mutated. He's dangerous. You must come at once, please!" : '-Mariah Crawford' "Spider-Man's turned into some kind of monster. This isn't your kind of fight. We were just gonna do a simple, high profile job to get you in good graces with the law that's all. Are you listening to me? Your not in this to fight monsters." "Wrong. That's exactly what I'm in this to fight. . . monsters. I'm gonna hunt that thing down and destroy it before anybody gets hurt. Are you gonna help?" "Ya, sure, anything you want. It's gonna take hours for us to prepare. Ya think anybody will see that Man-Spider in the meantime?" "Na. If there's anything left of his human mind my guess is he'll someplace to hide to avoid being spotted in the daylight. When the time comes I'll find 'em with that tracer I put on his leg last night. For now let 'em get his beauty sleep. He's gonna need it big time." : '-Microchip & Punisher' "Mrs. Parker, I must have nodded off." "Mary Jane dear, you've slept all night. It's morning." "Morning? Where are you going?" "To the police. Peter never came home last night." "What?" "You know how Peter is. Always following that awful Spider-Man around, taking those pictures. Now they say on the news that Spider-Man's turned into a monster! I'm so frightened. Peter could be in horrible trouble or worse." "I'm going to the police with you." "No. You don't have to." "If anything's wrong I must know. I care for Peter and if he's been harmed I don't know what I'd do." : '-Mary Jane & May Parker' "I have worked all night to create an anti-toxin but I must administer it to him soon or he will be that Man-Spider creature forever. Oh Sergei, I'm so glad your here." "My Calypso you must rest. We have a long night ahead of us. While I do not have the super strength of a scientifically created madman anymore I intend to be no less a hunter." "Sergei did you bring your ceremonial hunting garb?" "Does the lion hunt without his mane?" : '-Mariah Crawford & Sergei Kravinoff' "Don't you ever get tired?" "Never." "Then I guess I can't quit either. Somebodies gotta keep you alive. Frank, be careful okay." "I'll do what I have to." : '-Microchip & Punisher' "I hunger. Felicia, my love. No! I must keep trying to rid myself of this horrible need for plasma! I must do this for you Felicia, and perhaps I need help." : '-Michael Morbius' "Help! Please help!" "Hey what's wrong with you?" "That spider monster people are talking about I think I just saw it in the science lab." "Lady that monster story is just more garbage cooked up by the Daily Bugle to slam Spider-Man. Spider-Man's a good guy! A hero!" "So what are you saying? I'm seeing things." "Hey your the beaker brain not me." "Wait a minute. Your that ESU football star, Flash Thompson." "Please, hold the applause." "Well if your so great the least you can do is escort me back inside." "Lady I got places to go." "Hu, some big star you are. Your affraid." "What! Aw come on." (Flash and Debra go back to the lab.) "In there." "It was the wind. It kocked a few things over. You must've imagined the rest lady. I'm tellin' ya that science stuff is bad for your brains." "Oh really? And how would you know that? You jocks don't have any!" "Hu, your welcome." (Flash goes into the lab and finds webbing by the window.) "Webbing? Just what is going on around here?" : '-Debra Whitman & Flash Thompson' "Made the glue stronger webhead. This time I really gotcha." : '-Punisher' "This is what I live for webhead. Stopping monsters like you from harming innocent lives. Say good night." : '-Punisher' "I don't know who you are but you just made a big mistake. Who are you!" "Someone who does not need barbaric weapons to hunt." : '-Punisher & Kraven' "The television, they say you are a vigilante who thinks he is above the law." "So what?" "It is written that a man may build himself a throne of bayonets, but cannot sit on it. Give up this hunt! It is not about good or bad, it is about life!" "Don't know who you are jungle boy but if you get in my way one more time the lion ain't gonna walk tonight or ever again. You understand?" "A man that studieth revenge keeps his own wounds green. Francis Bacon. Revenge is a foolish reason to hunt!" "Maybe. But it works for me." : '-Kraven & Punisher' Category:A-Z Category:Season 2 episodes Category:Episodes Category:Neogenic Nightmare